For video communication services, there is always a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the video communication service is deployed.
In recent years, video conferencing has become an important tool of daily life. In the business environment, it enables a more effective collaboration between remote locations as well as the reduction of travelling costs. In the private environment, video conferencing makes possible a closer, more personal communication between related people. In general, although 2D video conferencing systems provide a basic feeling of closeness between participants, the user experience could still be improved by supplying a more realistic/immersive feeling to the conferees. Technically, this could be achieved, among others, with the deployment of 3D video, which adds depth perception to the user visual experience and also provides a better understanding of the scene proportions.
3D video conferencing may be enabled in many different forms. To this effect, 3D equipment such as stereo cameras and 3D displays have been deployed. 3D video or 3D experience commonly refers to the possibility of for a viewer, getting the feeling of depth in the scene or, in other words, to get a feeling for the viewer to be in the scene. In technical terms, this may generally be achieved both by the type of capture equipment (i.e. the cameras) and by the type of rendering equipment (i.e. the display) that are deployed in the system.
Although many standardization bodies are working on 3D-related standards, currently there is no common standard for 3D formats. This results in that there is not a unique way of capturing, transmitting and displaying 3D video communication services, which thus directly impacts 3D video conferencing systems.